“Vasya Kandinsky spent his days learning to be a proper Russian boy. He studied books of math, science, and history.”

From the publisher:

“Vasya Kandinsky was a proper little boy: he studied math and history, he practiced the piano, he sat up straight and was perfectly polite. And when his family sent him to art classes, they expected him to paint pretty houses and flowers—like a proper artist.

But as Vasya opened his paint box and began mixing the reds, the yellows, the blues, he heard a strange sound—the swirling colors trilled like an orchestra tuning up for a symphony! And as he grew older, he continued to hear brilliant colors singing and see vibrant sounds dancing. But was Vasya brave enough to put aside his proper still lifes and portraits and paint . . .music?”

THEMES/TOPICS: biography, art

WHY I LIKE THIS BOOK: I seem to be on a Barb Rosenstock roll lately, but she’s one of my all-time favorite historical writers. In this book, she uses onomatopoeia and repeated refrains to keep the story zipping along. GrandPré has done a masterful job of recreating the artist’s world and art.

Lily, the great thing about NOISY PAINT BOX is my six-year-old keeps requesting it. I love NF and historical fiction PBs, but sometimes they don’t go over well with kids. This one is a kid-pleaser as well.

Sorry I missed your review last week. I really love this story. I saw it recently but didn’t know what it was about. I am always fascinated how color influences/speaks to some people. My friend excelled in math because she saw each number as a color? This would pair nicely with THE GIRL WHO HEARD COLORS.